Apple's iPhone OS has successfully overtaken Symbian for the lead in all mobile web traffic, according to the latest data from AdMob. The combined iPhone and iPod touch share has jumped from 33 percent in February to 40 percent in August. Symbian, meanwhile, has almost exactly traded positions with Apple and fell from 43 percent near the start of the year to 34 percent in August.
Palm chief Jon Rubinstein during the company's fiscal results call yesterday evening detailed the company's stance on licensing webOS as well as some of the early reaction to the Pre. Addressing a question on whether Palm would ever let other companies make webOS phones, the executive was emphatic that there were no current plans for this but explained that it was "not a religious issue" for the company. Although not directly stated, the implication was that Palm didn't share Apple's opinion that software exclusivity was essential to integrating with its hardware.
Reviews have surfaced today for the Palm Pre that suggest the device is the closest rival to the iPhone but has drawbacks that may limit its scope. The New York Times' David Pogue describes it as the "iPhone remixed" and an "elegant, joyous" device. He praises webOS as very smooth and particularly highlights app multitasking, which isn't possible with iPhones. He also singles out Synergy, which merges offline and online contacts, as well as the native iTunes sync, as strong points.
Palm is reportedly poised to revive its canceled Foleo companion as a webOS device, an investor note from Global Equities Research says. Analyst Trip Chowdhry claims to know that the design will largely be similar to the original concept on the outside but will use webOS and serve as a true, stand-alone computer. By using an ARM processor and a Qualcomm Gobi chipset for 3G, the Foleo remake would get 8-10 hours of battery life while still having Internet access most anywhere.
The use of the iPhone online has accelerated to where it's now outranking Symbian in terms of sheer traffic, AdMob's March 2009 metrics report shows. Tracking access worldwide based on ad requests, the firm says OS X iPhone grew to represent 38 percent of smartphone traffic and just slightly edged out all Symbian phones, which have fallen to 37 percent. Both are sharp changes from February, when Symbian held a comfortable lead at 43 percent while the iPhone had just crossed the 33 percent mark.
A demo of Palm's webOS platform has revealed that the mobile software should include legacy support for PalmOS apps. Once thought to be completely cutting off the older software, Palm has now shown PreCentral a version of webOS which includes a "Classic" icon in the app launcher. A company spokesman discouraged running the shell but has promised that Palm would 'talk about that later,' possibly hinting at an update promised sometime today at the Web 2.0 Expo.
Palm doesn't expect there to be any disputes with Apple over patents for multi-touch technology in webOS or the Pre smartphone, company chief Ed Colligan said today at the Thomas Weisel Technology & Telecom Conference. The executive believes there are "no issues with Apple" iPhone patents and says that Palm is "very respectful" of other companies' intellectual property, preferring to dodge around conflicts altogether rather than setting itself up for a challenge. Palm has about 1,500 patents that Colligan is confident gives his company a safe foundation.
Any attempt by Microsoft to release a Zune-branded phone would clash with the very fundamentals of Microsoft's mobile operating system business and with the partners it depends on to succeed, according to early observations by Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg. He warns that the frustrations with success in the market that led to the creation of the Zune media player don't exist with Windows Mobile. While companies selling Windows Media-compatible players and the relevant protect music format had largely struggled before the Zune launched in November 2006, Windows Mobile is still considered successful with 20 million copies sold for various devices in the company's fiscal 2008.
One of the most prominent phone interface designers is now working for Palm for its next operating system, Engadget confirms in a hunt for new information. Matias Duarte, who designed much of the interface behind the Danger Sidekick and later moved on to Helio's custom interface, is now known through checks with sources and Palm itself to be a Senior Director in Palm's Human Interface and User Experience design group. The new executive quietly left his former post at Helio for the new position nearly two years ago in September 2007.
